Innovation and Career Choices

Business
‘guru’, Peter Drucker, once said: “Business is fundamentally about two
things: Innovation and Marketing”. At the start of spring, it may be the
ideal time to consider how the notion of innovation may inform career
choices. In this blog, I’ll focus on re-invention or ‘step change’,
rather than gradual level change.

There
was a recent newspaper article in the Daily Mail about the advice given
to Matt Dawson, hero of the England Rugby World Cup-winning team, by
the talent agent, Richard Thompson. Thompson warned Dawson that it was
time to move on from being a professional rugby player and to re-invent
himself before his career lost momentum and he dwindled into obscurity.
This was a risky proposition, considering Dawson was yet to win his
contract as team captain on the BBC’s A Question of Sport.

Indeed,
for most professionals, career progression tends to be the result of
being able to add value to a business. Incremental gains in skills,
experience and ultimately performance will result in greater reward and
in turn, promotion.

Time For a Career Change?

So
what are the signs that it is time for a more radical career change?
For sports professionals, it’s fairly obvious; at the time, Dawson was
no longer the guaranteed first pick for his club, Wasps.

For
other professionals, there may be similar ‘career signals’: a failure
to secure a promotion; being promoted to run a team and then demoted for
someone else to take charge, etc.

Other
warning signs may include the gap between the perceived value you are
adding to a business and your reward narrowing, thus reducing the
business’ margin.

Perhaps
your firm has had a significant cultural shift resulting from a new
management team coming in to drive change, and for whatever reason, your
background and skills no longer fit.

It
may be that you are now at a different chapter in your life. You may
want to move from executive to advisor or from producer to someone who
is giving back.

Finally,
perhaps you are just bored, undercharged and no matter how hard you
try, you’re unable to disguise your lack of enthusiasm, zest or zeal –
It’s time for a new challenge.

Anticipating a Career Change

Anticipation
is a powerful organizing principle in both business and sports. Wayne
Gretzky, the demi-God of ice hockey, famously skated to where the puck
was going to be, rather than where it was. Going from this principle,
it’s important to consider that it is often better to be the cause
rather than the effect of change, particularly when relating to your
career. You do not want to find yourself waking up, asking: “WTF just
happened?”

Timing
is also critical. Think of Richard Branson, who tactfully sold his
Virgin Megastore before the negative impact of music downloads really
hit his profit margins.

What prevents people from proactively reinventing themselves, even though they know that the career signals are there?

Comfort
and fear of the unknown often create ‘career inertia’, particularly the
illusion that ‘everything is ok’ and that change is more painful than
the status quo (even though often the status quo itself has changed).

A Successful Career Reinvention

What can you do in order to effectively make this step-change and successfully reinvent yourself as a professional?

1) Confirmation: Before
acting, make sure that – as far as you can – this is the right time for
a career change. Seek advice from those you trust and who are familiar
with your career situation.

2) Collaboration: Find
the right person to work with - someone who can offer incisive and
perceptive thinking, and help you create some new career options to
pursue. The power of collaborating with the right person is not to be
underestimated. People who have been fantastically successful in their
chosen field will often turn to a professional to guide them - why
should you not give yourself the same edge? An experienced coach with a
strong track record might be an ideal partner to embark on a career
transformation with.

3) Momentum: Ensure
you are on the front foot and taking pro-active action, to maintain
precious momentum. This is not least because your self-perception as a
decision maker who is making use of the springboard of your latest
successful career chapter will be invaluable. This is particularly in
contrast with having to start a job searching having been made
redundant.

4) Explanation: Have
a clear and valid vision for your reinvention – this will be invaluable
in future job interviews. I recently worked with a coaching client to
successfully secure a career/sector change from financial services to
media. One of the key reasons he gave in his interviews for wanting to
move sectors was the disruptive changes in financial services due to
both frequent changes in the regularly environment and the impact of
technology.

5) Self-assurance: Finally,
get comfortable with the idea of change in how you see yourself. This
re-invention will require a change in identity - i.e. the label that you
give yourself. As Dr Maxwell Maltz made clear in ‘Psycho-Cybernetics’,
the identity that you give to yourself is the single biggest influence
on your behaviour. Most people are unconsciously familiar with shifts
in identity. After all, they have already shifted their identity from
student to a professional. Perhaps think of this as an “expansion” of
identity, as you increase the range and scope in which you can add value
to a business and open a new career chapter.

It’s
always important to be one step ahead in your career. If you feel the
tide is turning or you have simply out-lived your role or the sector
entirely, be proactive – yet sensible – in making an innovative career
change.

Tesla Duo is an international online recruitment platform that brings together jobseekers and recruiters. Our team is passionate about matching the right person to the right job and uses all its resources and expertise to guide you through the process.